As Noam Sagi watched footage of journalists reporting from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the border with Gaza last Saturday, his heart sank when he saw his 75-year-old mother’s burnt-out car in the background.
His family had not heard from Ada since she called in distress earlier that morning to say Hamas gunmen had stormed the kibbutz and she was sheltering in a safe room.
“I saw them reporting from my mum’s front lawn and then I realised what’s going on there, and this is when my heart really sank. I was hoping for good news but I was really, really worried,” said Sagi, who grew up on the kibbutz and moved to London 22 years ago.
“I saw a man speaking in Arabic standing in front of her house reporting about looting and kidnapping, and then I hear gunshots. And there is another video that shows burning, so all the stuff is happening live in front of my eyes.”
Sagi, 53, has not had any official information about his mother, a retired headteacher, but he believes she is one of 150 people taken hostage by Hamas.
“It was not until 4pm on Saturday that the army managed to get hold of the situation, and when they got into her house they found bloodstains but she wasn’t there. And we haven’t heard since,” the psychotherapist said. “She’s not on the dead list, she’s not on the injured list, and she is not on the rescue list. That’s all we know.”
His anguish is shared by Sharone Lifschitz, 52, who said her peace-activist parents, 85 and 83, whom she did not want to name, were kidnapped from the kibbutz on Saturday.
The London-based artist and academic, who grew up with Sagi, told how her father spoke to her uncle shortly before the onslaught to say they could hear gunshots. Her mother was asleep and connected to an oxygen device while her father, who had overcome throat cancer, waited beside her. The couple have been missing since.
Lifschitz said footage from the attack showed a “horrendously well-executed invasion” and that the kibbutz’s 300 residents “had no chance”.
Sagi added: “They turned the gas pipes into the houses and gassed them. And after they either snatched them or killed them, they just threw a match inside and put it all on fire.
“They slashed them. They slaughtered them. They spread the bodies all around so no one will be able to recognise them. They captured elderly people and young kids from nine months old to 93 years old.”
The pair attended a press conference in London on Thursday to appeal to the international community to work towards the hostages’ release.
“I feel that I’m injured but I don’t feel the injury yet,” Lifschitz said. “Maybe at one point I will feel it. At the same time, I feel really strong. The worst has happened in so many ways that I have to rise to the occasion.”
She remains hopeful that a positive outcome can be reached, seven days after the hostages’ capture. “I believe that we can act in a way that can bring about their release. I’m certainly trying my tiny little bit to raise awareness,” she said.
Sagi shares Lifschitz’s hopes, saying his mother’s “main goal in life was to develop communication as a bridge for a better future”. Born in Tel Aviv in 1948 to Holocaust survivors from Poland, Ada was an Arabic teacher who campaigned for peace before retiring two years ago.
“Maybe I’m a fantasist, but my hope is that they realise that they actually kidnapped 80 people from this community who are all peace activists,” he said. “They’re marginalised in Israel for their political stance. They are the people who always believe that communication and human relationships can make a difference. I hope that they have a chance to show it now. That’s something that no politician can do, but this group of people can. Everything in their fibre is about peace, it’s about love, it’s about kindness.”
He believes the hostages from the kibbutz can make a difference “in a miraculous kind of way”. “This is my hope. Of course my fear is that kibbutz Nir Oz will become a cemetery and that community will be wiped out nearly completely,” he said.
